Medieval castle at the Rock of Dunamase, Co. Laois

A programme of archaeological work at Dunamase Castle was carried out in July 2006 as part of programme of conservation and cleaning of the Rock of Dunamase by the Office of Public Works.  The history of Dunamase Castle and the results of the numerous seasons of archaeological work there have been extensively documented

elsewhere (especially by Brian Hodkinson).  Hodkinson’s archaeological work demonstrated that the earliest fortifications are Early Medieval (9th century) in date, and that the majority of the defences date to the late 12th and 13th centuries.

The test excavation was undertaken in order to assess the suitability of the sally port for a proposed programme of archaeological and conservation work, in order to better present this part of the Dunamase Castle complex to the public.  The sally-port is a long thin structure built against the side of the rock face to the west of the Dunamase Castle complex.  It is positioned outside the main curtain wall surrounding the summit of the Rock at a potential weak point in the castle defences where the slope up to the Rock is relatively gentle.  A narrow gate at the base of the sally-port gave access to the castle.  At present, the sally-port is mostly filled in with a large amount of large stone rubble, mostly from the collapsed curtain wall.

Overall, the testing programme demonstrated that further archaeological investigations of the sally-port are warranted and could significantly add to our understanding of the chronology, use, and eventual abandonment and destruction of the castle.  The testing also demonstrated that the sally port would be an excellent part of the castle to clean up and present to the public.  Three phases of construction were suggested, dating from the main period of use of the castle in the medieval period (late 12th to 13th century), from the earliest evidence for a possible postern gate, to the construction of the curtain wall and finally the construction of the sally port itself.  Features such as the locking mechanism used to close the sally-port doorway and a possible rush floor provided information on the use of the building.  The sally port appears to have been abandoned and perhaps intentionally damaged in the late medieval period, although evidence in the form of steps formed by collapsed stones attest to re-use in the late 18th century.